This application for a planning grant or a "Comprehensive Oral Health Research Center of Discovery" (COHRCD) defines our vision for an integrated program of basic and applied research, training and education, health care promotion, and technology and science transfer, all linked by a unifying scientific theme: host factors in connective tissue destruction and bone loss. Host factors in connective tissue destruction and bone loss are important at several levels ranging from the molecule to the community. First, further elucidation of host factors will enhance our basic understanding of mechanisms of hone and connective tissue loss. As many oral diseases involve both the host and an infectious component, the COHRCD is designed to facilitate collaborative research among basic scientists involved in immunobiology, immunogenetics, inflammation, basic bone biology, and microbiology. This understanding will be transferred to patients by definition of host risk factors for oral and systemic connective tissue destruction. As well, we will determine if the presence of oral diseases, such as periodontal disease, puts patients at higher risk for autoimmune disease. Second, this understanding will be used to identify and test new strategies to arrest bone and tissue destruction that may be similar to those used in other disease processes, such as rheumatic diseases and osteoporosis. These studies will be designed to determine if the presence of host risk factors adversely affects the results of treatment. Third, the results of this risk factor assessment will be applied to the community. We plan to generate a risk assessment profile for use in the community, and to use this profile in studies of provider and patient adoption of beneficial behavior. Our proposal builds upon programs, assets, and personnel already in place and productive at our university. Our vision of the COHRCD is not limited to a mere "coordinating umbrella" over an assortment of valuable but ultimately independent activities. Rather, we see in it an opportunity to create highly focused programs by which new knowledge can be discovered, organized, and applied for the patient's benefit without the barriers and gaps that arise from traditional disciplinary thinking. During the planning year we will perform five major tasks including the following: (I) exchange of information with internal and external scientists in order to refine scientific aims and projects, (2) establish a presence in the community to facilitate outreach and behavorial science aims, (3) establish the biostatistical core, (4) perform pilot studies, and (5) prepare the P60 application.